When I Grow Up

When you are a little kid a teacher will always ask you what you want to be when you grow up. This is a pretty simple question to answer for one so young an age with limited knowledge of the plethora of jobs out there. Mostly you will hear the boys say that they want to be a fireman, or an astronaut, and the girls would answer that they want to be "mommies". (I'm sure it is a little different today since more and more women are enjoying the benefits of the work force, but for all intensive purposes I will go with the answer I have given). There is also another answer that is common among youngsters, and that is wanting to be a dinosaur hunter (we all know this translates into "paleontologist"). And, of course, when I was that age, that was the answer I gave, except I actually told my teachers I wanted to be a paleontologist. Many were surprised that I even knew such a "big word" but that's the truth. Ever since I was yea high (around the height of your average kindergartner) I have been fascinated with dinosaurs. That is why I choose that answer, and I have stuck to my guns ever since. Sadly not many children get to live out their childhood dreams.

Seeing as studying dinosaur fossils would involve me having to acquire and intimate knowledge of geology and biology, I have set out to earn a degree in geology. So far the trip has been a lot of fun, and I am enjoying gaining more and more experience in the field, and learning more about the earth and different geological structures. It is the beginning of my adventure to one day be a paleontologist. I have always planned on being in school for a long time, but I foresee a great future ahead of me. I have even set some goals for myself for when I become a paleontologist. One of them is to find a complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It is a lofty one, but I think that it can be done.

I know that this has been one of my shorter blogs (maybe someone will actually read this then), but it is about something that I care a lot about. I'm not sure what else I would be if I couldn't be a paleontologist. I'm really interested in ancient Egyptian culture, so maybe I'd take that route, but I'd still rather look at dinosaur bones than mummies. I think it is amazing that I have stayed with it all this time. I'm not sure why, but maybe it is part of my destiny (I use the term lightly) to be one. And I feel it is important to do what you love. I spent a summer at a desk job, and I hated it. Never again will I be confined to a computer and a desk. I will be out in the field banging rocks and looking at some pretty awesome stuff. It is a beautiful world that we live in, and there have been some pretty amazing creatures that have walked the face of it. I am excited to study about what came before us, and how they impacted the world that we live in today.